This invention relates to extending a telephone call from a wireless telephone set to a location based service provider based upon the location of the wireless telephone. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for determining a location service provider that provides service to the location of the wireless telephone set and extending the telephone call to that location based service provider.
It is a problem to provide location based telephone service to a wireless telephone set. Location based telephone service is the extending of a telephone call from the caller to a service provider serving the area from which the telephone call is being placed. Some examples of location based telephone services are a 911 emergency telephone service and a toll-free telephone number for a franchise that connects a caller to the nearest outlet of the franchise serving the subscriber. The difficulty in providing a location based service to a wireless telephone is determining which service provider provides service to the location of the wireless telephone set. The determination of the nearest provider is typically not a problem for a telephone call placed from a non-wireless telephone set. One common method for determining the location based service provider that should receive a call from a non-wireless telephone line is to simply extend the call to the service provider that is connected to the same central office switching system as the calling party telephone line. Another common method is to connect the caller to a service provider based upon a prefix in the telephone numbers of the callers and the location based service providers. Finally, it is also possible to maintain a database which stores a street address associated with each telephone number and to use the database to determine the service provider servicing the caller""s telephone number based upon the street address of the caller.
The solutions for extending location based service calls from a non-wireless set are not feasible for a telephone call placed from a wireless telephone set. Wireless telephones are mobile and a wireless caller may place a telephone call from anywhere in the caller""s area of coverage. The above methods for extending non-wireless telephone calls rely upon the fact that non-wireless telephones are not mobile and can easily be associated with one location which is not true for a wireless telephone set.
A telephone call from a wireless telephone is connected to the called party in the following manner. The wireless caller dials a telephone number. The wireless telephone set transmits radio signals to a cellular antenna that serves the sector from which the caller is calling. A connection over an available radio frequency band is then established between the telephone set and the antenna. A mobile switching system that provides telephone service for the wireless telephone receives and transmits radio signals to the wireless telephone via the antenna. The mobile switching system connects the wireless telephone network to the public telephone switching network. In order to establish a telephone connection, the mobile switching system generates a call set-up message, which includes the wireless telephone number of the caller and the telephone number that the called party. The call set-up message is then transmitted to a non-wireless public switching system which establishes a connection to the called party. The problem in providing location based services is that there is no way to determine the location of a wireless telephone set placing a location based telephone call from the call set-up message. There is a need for a system that can provide the location of a wireless telephone set placing a telephone call and extend the telephone call to the location based service provider that provides service to that location.
The above and other problems are solved and an advance in the art is made by the present invention. The present invention provides location based services to a wireless telephone set. The present invention first determines the location of the wireless telephone set and then uses the location of the telephone set to determine which location based service provider provides service to the location. The telephone call is then extended to the determined location based service provider.
In a first preferred exemplary embodiment of this invention, a wireless location system is connected to the mobile switching system. A telephone call to a location based service from a wireless telephone set is completed in the following manner. A wireless telephone establishes a radio connection to an antenna and transmits a location based telephone number to the antenna. The antenna transmits the location based telephone number to the mobile switching system. Upon receiving the location based telephone number, the mobile switching system transmits a request for location data about the wireless telephone set to the connected location system. The location system determines the location of the wireless telephone set, generates the location data, and transmits the location data for the wireless telephone set to mobile switching system. The mobile switching system receives the location data and then generates a call set-up message that includes the location data. The call set-up message is transmitted to a connected non-wireless public switching system. The public switching system then performs a look-up routine in a location based service provider database using the location data from the call set-up message to determine the location based service provider that provides service to the location of the caller. The telephone call is then extended to the location based service provider.
In a second exemplary embodiment, the wireless location system is connected to a public switching system. Location based wireless telephone calls are completed in the following manner. An antenna receives a telephone call placed to a location based telephone number from a wireless telephone set. The antenna establishes a connection with a mobile switching system. The mobile switching system generates a call set-up message for a connection to the location based service and transmits the message to a connected non-wireless public telephone switching system. The call set-up message includes the telephone number of the wireless calling party and the telephone number of the location based telephone service.
When the public switching system receives the call set-up message, the system recognizes the called telephone number as a location based telephone number and the calling number as a wireless telephone set. The switching system then requests location data for the wireless telephone set from a wireless telephone location system. The wireless telephone location system uses radio signals transmitted between the wireless telephone and antenna to determine the location of the wireless telephone set and to generate location data which is transmitted to the switching system. The switching system uses the location data to perform a look-up routine in a service provider database to determine the location based service provider that provides service the location of the caller. The switching system then extends the telephone call to the determined service provider.